1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a sealing apparatus and method for facilitating percutaneous access of a surgical instrument into a body cavity. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a seal apparatus for forming a fluid tight seal between a surgical instrument and an internal passageway of an access or cannula assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Minimally invasive and laparoscopic procedures generally require that any instrumentation inserted into the body is sealed, i.e., provisions must be made to ensure that gases and/or fluids do not enter or exit the body through an endoscopic incision, such as, for example in surgical procedures where the surgical region is insufflated. For such procedures, access to anatomical cavities, such as the peritoneal cavity, is usually accomplished by use of a system incorporating a trocar and cannula assembly. Since the cannula is in direct communication with the interior of the peritoneal cavity, the cannula should be adapted to maintain a fluid tight interface between the abdominal cavity and the outside atmosphere. In view of the need to maintain the atmospheric integrity of the inner area of the cavity, a seal assembly for a cannula, which permits introduction of a wide range of surgical instrumentation and maintains the atmospheric integrity of the inner area of the cavity is desirable. In this regard, there have been a number of attempts in the prior art to achieve such sealing requirements. A difficulty encountered with conventional seal assemblies, however, is the inability of accommodating the wide range of sizes of instrumentation. In addition, angulation and/or manipulation of instrumentation within the cannula often present difficulties with respect to maintaining seal integrity.